Press invitation: How a forgotten kingdom dominated the medieval Caucasus 

What did medieval kingdoms need in order to function? That intriguing question lies at the heart of historian John Latham-Sprinkle’s new book The Kingdom of Alania. On 25 September, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), together with the research groups Social History of Capitalism and the Ghent-Brussels Alliance Research Group in Urban History, will host a book launch that brings this forgotten Caucasian kingdom back to life. 

The Kingdom of Alania was the most powerful polity in the medieval North Caucasus. It controlled strategic mountain passes and boasted urban centers larger than those in contemporary Rus’. The rulers of Alania were active from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, forged marriage alliances with the royal families of Georgia and Byzantium, and commanded armies that were feared across the region. 

In this first English-language study of the subject, John Latham-Sprinkle shows how the kings of Alania derived their authority from access to goods, ideas, and religious influences from distant lands—making a conventional state structure unnecessary. The book challenges existing narratives of state formation and elite power, and makes an important contribution to debates on medieval globalization, Christian networks, and transregional connections. 

Register free of charge by sending an email to shoc@vub.be 

Practical information 

• When?  Thursday, 25 September, 2025  17:00 until 20:00 
• Where? U-Residence VUB Main Campus Etterbeek Pleinlaan 2 1050 Elsene 
• Price?  Free of charge

Programme 

• Welcome & introduction by Professor Hugh Kennedy (SOAS, University of London) 
• Conversation & Q&A with the author, led by Professor Frederik Buylaert (Ghent University) 
• Reception with Georgian wine and Armenian snacks 

About the author 

John Latham-Sprinkle is a historian of the medieval Eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caucasus. His research has two main strands: the history of slavery in the Black Sea, and its connections with the wider Mediterranean and Afro-Eurasian world. And the history of polities on the borderlands of the Byzantine Empire, notably in the Caucasus, and their relationships with each other. 

John did his PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London on the North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, supervised by Prof. Hugh Kennedy and Dr. Teresa Bernheimer. He then taught at Saint Xavier University and Wilbur Wright College in Chicago, USA, before moving to Ghent University in 2019. From 2021 to 2024, he held an FWO Junior Postdoctoral Fellowship, which investigated comparisons and links between the medieval Black Sea slave trade and political developments in 14th-15th century Egypt and West Africa. He has been a postdoctoral fellow at Vrije Universiteit Brussel since 2024. He is about to begin an FWO Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship investigating the creation of theories of race in the context of European colonies in the late medieval Black Sea. 

About the speaker 

Professor Hugh Kennedy is one of the world’s leading historians of the early Islamic world. He has taught at St Andrews and SOAS, written ten major books (including the classic The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates), and published widely on Islamic history, archaeology, and the medieval Middle East. His works have been translated into more than ten languages. 

The world needs you 

This initiative is part of VUB's public programme, a programme for everyone who believes that scientific knowledge sharing, critical thinking and dialogue are an important first step to create impact in the world.  

As an Urban Engaged University, VUB aims to be a driver of change in the world. With our academic edcuational programmes and innovative research, we contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and to making a difference locally and globally. 

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